Irena Buka

E-Waste and Harm to Vulnerable Populations: A Growing Global Problem.

Background: Electronic waste (e-waste) is produced in staggering quantities, estimated globally to be 41.8 million tonnes in 2014. Informal e-waste recycling is a source of much-needed income in many low- to middle-income countries. However, its handling and disposal in underdeveloped countries is often unsafe and leads to contaminated environments. Rudimentary and uncontrolled processing methods often result in substantial harmful chemical exposures among vulnerable populations, including women and children. E-waste hazards have not yet received the attention they deserve in research and public health agendas. Objectives: We provide an overview of the scale and health risks. We review international efforts concerned with environmental hazards, especially affecting children, as a preface to presenting next steps in addressing health issues stemming from the global e-waste problem. Discussion: The e-waste problem has been building for decades. Increased observation of adverse health effects from e-waste sites calls for protecting human health and the environment from e-waste contamination. Even if e-waste exposure intervention and prevention efforts are implemented, legacy contamination will remain, necessitating increased awareness of e-waste as a major environmental health threat. Conclusion: Global, national, and local levels efforts must aim to create safe recycling operations that consider broad security issues for people who rely on e-waste processing for survival. Paramount to these efforts is reducing pregnant women and children’s e-waste exposures to mitigate harmful health effects. With human environmental health in mind, novel dismantling methods and remediation technologies and intervention practices are needed to protect communities. Citation: Heacock M, Kelly CB, Asante KA, Birnbaum LS, Bergman AL, Bruné MN, Buka I, Carpenter DO, Chen A, Huo X, Kamel M, Landrigan PJ, Magalini F, Diaz-Barriga F, Neira M, Omar M, Pascale A, Ruchirawat M, Sly L, Sly PD, Van den Berg M, Suk WA. 2016. E-waste and harm to vulnerable populations: a growing global problem. Environ Health Perspect 124:550–555; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1509699

Children's health in Latin America: the influence of environmental exposures

Background Chronic diseases are increasing among children in Latin America. Objective and Methods To examine environmental risk factors for chronic disease in Latin American children and to develop a strategic initiative for control of these exposures, the World Health Organization (WHO) including the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Collegium Ramazzini, and Latin American scientists reviewed regional and relevant global data. Results Industrial development and urbanization are proceeding rapidly in Latin America, and environmental pollution has become widespread. Environmental threats to children’s health include traditional hazards such as indoor air pollution and drinking-water contamination; the newer hazards of urban air pollution; toxic chemicals such as lead, asbestos, mercury, arsenic, and pesticides; hazardous and electronic waste; and climate change. The mix of traditional and modern hazards varies greatly across and within countries reflecting industrialization, urbanization, and socioeconomic forces. Conclusions To control environmental threats to children’s health in Latin America, WHO, including PAHO, will focus on the most highly prevalent and serious hazards—indoor and outdoor air pollution, water pollution, and toxic chemicals. Strategies for controlling these hazards include developing tracking data on regional trends in children’s environmental health (CEH), building a network of Collaborating Centres, promoting biomedical research in CEH, building regional capacity, supporting development of evidence-based prevention policies, studying the economic costs of chronic diseases in children, and developing platforms for dialogue with relevant stakeholders. Citation Laborde A, Tomasina F, Bianchi F, Bruné MN, Buka I, Comba P, Corra L, Cori L, Duffert CM, Harari R, Iavarone I, McDiarmid MA, Gray KA, Sly PD, Soares A, Suk WA, Landrigan PJ. 2015. Children’s health in Latin America: the influence of environmental exposures. Environ Health Perspect 123:201–209; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408292

USING POLLUTANT RELEASE AND TRANSFER REGISTER DATA IN HUMAN HEALTH RESEARCH: A SCOPING REVIEW

Pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTRs) collect and provide information on chemicals released to the environment or otherwise managed as waste. They support the public’s right-to-know and provide useful information in gauging performance of facilities, sectors, and governments. The extent to which these data have been used in research, particularly in relation to human health, has not been documented. In this scoping review our objective was to learn from scholarly literature the extent and nature of the use of PRTR data in human health research. We performed literature searches (1994–2011) using various search engines and (or) key words. Articles selected for review were chosen following predefined criteria, to extract and analyze data. One hundred and eighty four papers were identified. Forty investigated possible relations with health outcomes: 33 of them identified positive associations. The rest explored other uses of PRTR data. Papers identified challenges, some imputable to the PRTR.We conclude that PRTR data are useful for research, including health-related studies, and have significant potential for prioritizing research needs that can influence policy, management, and ultimately human health. In spite of their inherent limitations, PRTRs represent a perfectible, unique useful source, whose application to human health research appears to be underutilized. Developing strategies to overcome these limitations could improve data quality and increase its utility in future environmental health research and policy applications.

Governance Instruments That Protect Children's Environmental Health: Is Enough Being Done?

We describe our efforts to find and assess governance instruments: laws, regulations, guidelines, addressing specifically the issue of childrens environmental health in OECD countries in the European Union (EU) and in the United States of America (US). The ultimate purpose is to inform policy that will further Canadas commitment to childrens environmental health. Among governance instruments found, most EU country governance instruments duplicated EU Directives; American governance instruments were found at both the federal and state level. With a few clear exceptions, the effects of environmental agents on the child have not been considered specifically in those OECD governance instruments that address environmental health concerns. We found multiple governance instruments with a clear childrens environmental health focus, but little emphasis on the uniqueness of children. We also found laws not specifically addressing children in the text, but which clearly involved concern for child health. Some legislation was impeded because of scientific uncertainty, which, on occasion, appeared to be industry-driven. The precautionary principle appeared to be applied most frequently in European legislation. We conclude that childrens environmental health is not well-addressed for the majority of laws relating to the environment.

Salud infantil y medio ambiente en América del Norte: Un primer informe de indicadores y mediciones disponibles

Con la publicación próxima de Salud Infantil y Medio Ambiente en América del Norte: primer informe de indicadores y mediciones disponibles, la región está en proceso de convertirse en la primera zona del mundo en publicar un conjunto de indicadores sobre salud infantil y medio ambiente. La meta de este nuevo informe es proporcionar a los responsables de la toma de decisiones y a la ciudadanía información periódica y accesible sobre el estado de parámetros fundamentales relacionados con la salud infantil y el medio ambiente como un medio para medir y promover el cambio. El informe es también el paso inicial hacia la meta general de mejorar con el tiempo los sistemas de registro por medio de la cooperación trilateral.